My First Smoke


 
Garry Milner

Garry Milner

TVWBB Member
Just to try my WSM 18 out I got some cheap pork sirloin chops, rubbed them down with some McCormick natural apple rub and smoked them at around 230-240 for a few hours today. Charcoal ring about half full (too many for this short cook), and a few chunks of hickory and pecan mixed in there. The aroma was awesome and reminded me of why I bought this smoker.I used the preset temp of 165 on the ThermoPro which I think is too high for med well, so next time I'll pull the plug at 155 or so for these chops. They actually taste pretty good but could have used some salt. Fairly tender and moist.

Now I feel a little more confident in smoking the two butts I got yesterday, maybe this weekend depending on rain and T-storms.

Smoker 1.jpg

ThermoPro 2.jpg

ThermoPro.jpg

Done.jpg
Done 2.jpg
 

Attachments

  • Done.jpg
    Done.jpg
    241.9 KB · Views: 2
Good start! You can always ADD salt, having too much is not easy to rectify.
Get those Butts on there, you’re ready to go! Just remember…
”Barbecue will be done when IT is ready.” Just don’t rush, don’t peek, relax and let the day roll by.
You will learn about closing all the vents and letting the fire go out after a cook soon enough, when you do the butts fill that sucker to the brim, touch off one side (or Minion) and button it up. When the probe says you’re getting close probe for tenderness and cover it back up. Now, if it’s soft as the morning dew, wrap it up in two layers of foil, then with a big towel and let it rest in a cooler for a couple of hours. Your patience WILL be rewarded!
 
Nice little smoke ring. I like pulling around 140-145 and let it rest to 150ish.
I think I did pork steaks for my first time.
 
timothy said:
Nice little smoke ring. I like pulling around 140-145 and let it rest to 150ish.
I think I did pork steaks for my first time.
Click to expand...
Timothy, what wood do you burn for pork? I have a couple of 5lb butts coming up next and wonder if something like apple would work better than the hickory.
 
Living in Michigan, I have pretty good access to most fruit woods, cherry is my “go to” especially for a load of butts.
just used some “Fruitawood” olive (that had gotten pushed to the back of the supply) on some pork chops the other day, really nice!
The “Loss in depth” should never happen again!
Lower buckets- Apple, cherry, pecan and,oak
Upstairs- the tin has the last of the olive and the big bucket has Bourbon Merlot barrel staves
Weber bag way over on the left is mesquite
Carpenter tote has a bunch of tools and support material.
I just rearranged it for easy winter work when the cold weather hits. I doubt it will look like this in a month.

95553EBF-0F53-4B35-BA5B-0CF34551B50F.jpeg
And yes, I will get those pliers cleaned up!
 
Timothy you're really setup well! Let me ask, using cherry for your butts what is your coating/rub recipe for those? The chops I did today came out really well but the apple rub combined with hickory and pecan woods made them smell like BBQ Fritos. Lol

I did pick up a couple of dry rubs - KC Butt spice from Lowes, and Bob Byron's butt rub from a local Weber dealer near my house. I don't want to get real fancy with it, I just would like to end up with pulled pork that tastes like some great BBQ I used to get in Atlanta and a few places here in Florida.
 
Garry them chops look good when I do butts pecan & cherry mild just let that smoker do it’s thing on rushing what to see some pics 😎
 
Garry Milner said:
Timothy you're really setup well! Let me ask, using cherry for your butts what is your coating/rub recipe for those? The chops I did today came out really well but the apple rub combined with hickory and pecan woods made them smell like BBQ Fritos. Lol

I did pick up a couple of dry rubs - KC Butt spice from Lowes, and Bob Byron's butt rub from a local Weber dealer near my house. I don't want to get real fancy with it, I just would like to end up with pulled pork that tastes like some great BBQ I used to get in Atlanta and a few places here in Florida.
Click to expand...
Thank you, like I said, it won’t last but, for a few weeks I won’t swear while searching for something, we shall see how long it lasts.
I’ve been very pleased with “Operation Barbecue Relief“ products, especially the all purpose rub! Not too salty, not too hot.nif I want hot, I’ll make that myself. Might need to order them through Lowes (I did), they kick a buck back to OBR on each bottle they sell. I kind of wish I could get it directly but, they referred me to Lowes. I am fond of some of the McKormick blends as well. The bourbon brown sugar and smokehouse maple are good. But, the thing is it’s as much about the search as finding something exceptional. I find MOST, not all, commercial things are too much salt and cayenne with nothing interesting in the flavor profile. For me, it’s more about what I call “flavor spectrum” the distance between the salt and burn, actual flavors like herbs and not too much sweetness spicing that is not all heat.
Some call me kind of a hard act but, I’ve been down the extreme heat route,and I’m just not interested in that anymore.
 
For pork butt I like one chunk each of hickory, post oak, and apple (or peach/cherry).

For ribs I stick with fruit wood.
 
I put 2 butts on the WSM at 10:45 am today - a 4 and a 5 lber. After 7-1/2 hours the internal temps for them is 161 and 165. I have moved the probes around to different locations on each one, and no change in temps. I have maintained a 245-275 ambient temp throughout the cook.

What the heck is going on? Shouldn't they be at around 190 by now? Help!
 
Garry Milner said:
I put 2 butts on the WSM at 10:45 am today - a 4 and a 5 lber. After 7-1/2 hours the internal temps for them is 161 and 165. I have moved the probes around to different locations on each one, and no change in temps. I have maintained a 245-275 ambient temp throughout the cook.

What the heck is going on? Shouldn't they be at around 190 by now? Help!
Click to expand...
The dreaded stall.
 
Yeah too late probably but I like to wrap em at 165. I’ve done foil, paper and I really like foil pans these days, just so easy.
 
I don’t wrap but, that’s because I’m lazy. Remember “It will be done when it’s finished”.
Don‘t worry, it will be fine. Next time you will know more and you can start at 07:00 and that will give time to wrap when they reach 190-195 and they can rest for several hours in foul and towels in a cooler. Then, you can fuss with sides and pull when guests get there.
Lesson learned, now, remembering the lesson is another story. 😉
Every cook is different, ”Man plans, God laughs!”
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top